Innocence Lost
by Actrez
Summary: Takes place at the end of Confession (1.11). That pretty much sums it up right there.


Title: Innocence Lost  
  
Author: Actrez  
  
Disclaimer: If I owned them then Sydney and Vaughn would probably have already kissed grin Please don't sue, I am only a lowly high school junior with no money.  
  
Rating: PG I guess  
  
Spoilers: The Confession  
  
Summary: Takes place right after the end of Confession. That probably pretty much summarizes it up.  
  
Author's note: I'm planning on this being the first of a two part series thing. Let me know what you think and if you'd want to read a second one.  
  
  
  
She couldn't breath. Her whole world was crashing down around her and her chest felt like it was caving in. She opened her mouth taking in short, quick breaths. She stared at her father as the tears began to burn her eyes. The strangers that filled the room looked at her with the same stone expression her father had. She looked around the room, everywhere but at Vaughn because she knew that if she looked at him she would lose her control on her emotions. And she refused to cry, not in front of all these people who didn't give a damn about what they had just done to her.  
  
She wanted to scream, she wanted to tell him that he was wrong, her mother had been a teacher, she wasn't a spy! She opened her mouth to tell him that but she still couldn't breath. This room was suffocating her and she was pretty sure the walls were starting to close in around her. She pushed herself back from the table, "Excuse me," she muttered before exiting the room as calmly as she could.  
  
She walked down the hall quickly, she needed to get out of the building. She made it all the way into the stairwell before she had to grab onto the wall to steady herself as she was finally able to get a decent gulp of air. Tears ran steadily down her cheeks as she continued to gasp for air. This wasn't happening. This couldn't be happening.  
  
She slowly slid down the wall until she was sitting on the floor. The room was beginning to spin. Her mother had been a spy. She'd worked for the KGB. All those people in the files Vaughn had shown her, Vaughn's father, her mother had killed all those people. She pulled her legs against her chest, not caring that she was in a skirt, rested her forehead on top of her knees, and let the sobs come.  
  
***  
  
Vaughn stared at the door that Sydney had walked out of a few minutes ago, still trying to process everything that had just happened. The silence in the room was deafening. He glanced around the room and wondered if any of the people there cared that they had just completely turned both his and Sydney's worlds upside down.  
  
They all looked at him expectantly and he knew they were all waiting for him to say something, but he didn't have anything to say to them.  
  
He shot a glare at Jack. He could have found some other way to break it to Sydney. He could have tried to break it to her in private instead of in front all these strangers. He stood up and quietly excused himself and went in search of Sydney.  
  
Vaughn walked down the hall not exactly sure where Sydney would have gone. He noticed Weiss talking to another agent and walked over to them, hoping one of them had seen where she had gone. "Have you seen Sydney?" he asked as soon as he was close enough for them to hear him.  
  
Weiss nodded, "Which way did she go?" Vaughn asked quickly.  
  
"That way," he told him, pointing down the hall, "Is everything OK?" But Vaughn took off before he could hear his question.  
  
Vaughn walked down the hall not exactly sure how he was going to find Sydney. He stopped near the door to the stairwell, he could hear her soft sobs through the door. He quietly walked in and kneeled down next to her, "Syd," he whispered softly, placing a gentle hand on her back. She glanced up at him, choking on a sob and he was pretty sure he felt his heart break at the sight of her tear stained face. She leaned forward and buried her face in his chest. He slowly sat down and wrapped his arms around her, gently stroking her hair as she cried. He was sure that this was against protocol but at the moment he really didn't give a damn.  
  
"My whole life has been a lie," she sobbed.  
  
He pulled her away from him gently and forced her to look him in the eye. "That is *not* true," he told her in a forceful, but gentle voice. "You are still the same amazing person I met with this morning, this doesn't change who you are. What you knew of your *mother's* life was a lie."  
  
She choked back another sob before she leaned into him again, clinging to him like a lifeline.  
  
Her sobs slowly quieted but she continued to cling to Vaughn, losing herself in the comfort she felt in his arms. She sniffed, causing his scent to invade her senses. He continued to stroke her hair as they sat in silence, neither really sure of what to say. Nothing they could say could lessen the other's pain.  
  
She pulled away after a few more minutes and stared blankly down the stairs. "We should probably go back," Vaughn said gently, breaking the silence.  
  
She grabbed his hand and turned to him, "Stay with me for a little bit longer?" she asked softly, not ready to face all those strangers who knew more about her mother than she did. He nodded and they continued to sit in silence, hands clasped together.  
  
Jack Bristow walked down the hall in search of his daughter. "Where's Sydney?" he asked, stopping Agent Weiss.  
  
Weiss looked up and did his best to keep the intimidation out of his eyes, "Uh, last I saw she went that way," he said pointing back behind him. "But I think Agent Vaughn-" he stopped, realizing as Jack walked off that he wasn't listening to him.  
  
Jack pulled open the door to the stairwell and found Sydney and Vaughn sitting together quietly.  
  
The two looked up to see who their intruder was. Vaughn reluctantly let go of Sydney's hand and started to stand up. "I'm going to go back," he told her gently.  
  
She nodded and gave him a small smile, "OK," she whispered before he turned and left. Sydney stood up to meet her father, praying he would tell her that it had all just been some horrible dream, but deep down she knew it was real.  
  
"I'm sorry you had to find out this way," he told her, not really sure what else to say.  
  
"Did you know, when she was alive, did you know what she did?" she asked, her voice horse from crying.  
  
Jack shook his head, "I found out the night of the accident."  
  
She pressed her lips together to stop the sob from escaping. She knew without having to ask that the FBI had been after her mother and not him.  
  
"Your mother loved you," he told her and a tear slipped down her cheek.  
  
"What about you?" she asked, not sure if should ask that or not, but she needed to know, "Was your marriage just an act?"  
  
"Your mother and I loved each other."  
  
"How can you still love her after what she did?" she managed to whisper past the hot lump in her throat.  
  
"People make mistakes Sydney," he told her simply.  
  
She wrapped her arms tightly around his neck as silent tears cascaded down her cheeks. He hesitated a moment before returning her embrace. "I love you Daddy," she whispered softly. It had been ages since she had told him that, the last time she could remember saying it was at her mother's funeral.  
  
Jack paused and swallowed hard before replying, barely above a whisper, "I love you too." She pulled away and he looked around, uncomfortable with the display of emotions. After Laura had died he had pulled himself away from everything so he wouldn't have to feel anything. "I'm going to go back," he said, his voice returning to it's normal, steady tone.  
  
Sydney nodded and gave him a shaky smile. "I'll be there in a minute," she said before he turned and left. She leaned back against the wall, letting out a shaky sigh. Her whole life, ever since her mother had died and especially after she stared her work as a double agent, she had thought her father was the bad guy. But it had been her mother, the one person in her memory who, after all this time, had remained untainted. For the second time in the past year her whole world had been turned upside down within a matter of minutes.  
  
She managed to push herself of the wall and took a deep breath, shoving all her emotions down. She smoothed the creases out of her skirt and straightened her shirt before opening the door to the hallway and heading back toward the conference room.  
  
The End  
  
So what do you think? Should I do a sequel or not? 


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